Article: 6 Things Stopping Me Flying Air New Zealand More

[AFF Editor]

6 Things Stopping Me Flying Air New Zealand More is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

6 Things Stopping Me Flying Air New Zealand More

I fly a lot across the Tasman, but rarely choose Air New Zealand for my flights. Here are six things the Kiwi national carrier could change to change my mind.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[henrus]

I agree that Air NZ is often my last choice across the Tasman and I had no intention of booking them 4x times across this year (the rest I’ve booked are on QF/JQ) but when the price is right then I’ll book Air NZ. During a recent Webjet/Air NZ promo I booked a few BNE-CHC for $134 one way.

Regarding some of the points mentioned:
1. I agree and have been burned before by the cancellation policy. It basically matches that of a low cost carrier!
2. I can see the seat to suit going away very shortly, on most my flights there have only been 3-4 people who’ve booked a seat only fare and they’re loading snacks/paid drinks all just for these few people.
3. 100% agree it’s one of the worst around.
4. This point I disagree with, if you want to earn points book a more expensive fare, this is partly Air NZs fault but also the partner program and exists in a lot of other programs (QF/MH anyone). Regarding the seat selection getting access to the “frequent flyer” seating isn’t actually a star alliance benefit yes in the past they offered it automatically online but it’s since been removed and in theory *Gs shouldn’t be receiving it. Air NZ is also slightly more generous offering *Gs extra hand luggage again not something they have to do. As for the lounge automatically denying access, not a big deal I recently had to show my QF card at a QF lounge because the Alaska Airlines boarding pass had the number but not the program embedded into it.
5/6. Also agree with both with no incentive to reward seats and bonus points/status credits it’s hard to be excited.

Now ignoring all the above I think the biggest point here is missed and that’s schedule. Sure if you want to fly from SYD-AKL then Air NZ has probably got a time that suits but if you’re flying into the South Island or Wellington and want to fly business class or have a choice of times then often you’re limited to Qantas group/partner carriers anyway.

Air NZ have been really struggling with their fleet and it shows unlucky decisions with the 787s and A320s have meant they’ve taken delivery of aircraft and then instantly parked it in Auckland taken the engine off and used it on a different aircraft. Obviously this isn’t their fault as the engine manufacturers told them how many cycles an inspection would be required and it’s turned out to be a lot less however they now don’t have the aircraft to operate a competitive trans Tasman and pacific schedule which is why we’re seating old CX 777s being bought into help.

 

[VPS]

Interesting I never realised their cancellation policy before. That will colour my judgement if going to NZ again